Jaffa
10th December 2005, 04:33 PM
From BBC News:
Nothing was off limits for Richard Pryor
Groundbreaking black US comedian Richard Pryor has died after almost 20 years with multiple sclerosis.
He died at the age of 65 of a heart attack at Encino hospital near Los Angeles, his wife Jennifer Pryor said.
A series of hit comedies in the 1970s and 1980s - including Stir Crazy and Silver Streak - helped make him one of Hollywood's highest-paid stars.
He was one of the first black performers to have enough clout to negotiate his own Hollywood deals.
In 1983, he signed a $40m (£23m;34m euros), five-year contract with Columbia Pictures.
Foul-mouthed
But he first came to prominence as a pioneering stand-up comic.
His uncompromising, foul-mouthed brand of humour focused on his personal insights into modern life and race relations.
Among those most said to have been influenced by his comedy were black artists such as Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall and Damon Wayans, as well as Robin Williams, David Letterman and others.
In 1995, he played an embittered multiple sclerosis patient in an episode of TV series Chicago Hope. The role earned him an Emmy nomination as best guest actor in a drama series.
Multiple sclerosis is a degenerative disease of the nervous system.
My heart goes out to his family. He was a brilliant and funny man. RIP.
Nothing was off limits for Richard Pryor
Groundbreaking black US comedian Richard Pryor has died after almost 20 years with multiple sclerosis.
He died at the age of 65 of a heart attack at Encino hospital near Los Angeles, his wife Jennifer Pryor said.
A series of hit comedies in the 1970s and 1980s - including Stir Crazy and Silver Streak - helped make him one of Hollywood's highest-paid stars.
He was one of the first black performers to have enough clout to negotiate his own Hollywood deals.
In 1983, he signed a $40m (£23m;34m euros), five-year contract with Columbia Pictures.
Foul-mouthed
But he first came to prominence as a pioneering stand-up comic.
His uncompromising, foul-mouthed brand of humour focused on his personal insights into modern life and race relations.
Among those most said to have been influenced by his comedy were black artists such as Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall and Damon Wayans, as well as Robin Williams, David Letterman and others.
In 1995, he played an embittered multiple sclerosis patient in an episode of TV series Chicago Hope. The role earned him an Emmy nomination as best guest actor in a drama series.
Multiple sclerosis is a degenerative disease of the nervous system.
My heart goes out to his family. He was a brilliant and funny man. RIP.